On the ice, former Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson never seemed the type to stop and watch others in order to get a hang on how to best turn the game in his favor. But Alfredsson is a self-proclaimed rookie when it comes to an NFL front-office role and the newly minted senior adviser of hockey operations is still getting his feet wet, so to speak, when it comes to the wheeling and dealing and higher-level thinking that's required of a league executive. The man he's assisting in maintaining and developing the upstart Sens, GM Bryan Murray, has seemingly set quite the example for Alfredsson. Alfie, speaking to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun recently, said that watching Murray work the phones - something the elder NHL statesman has been doing "quite a bit" of late - is a wonder.
"For sure it is, there are discussions going on, Bryan is working the phone quite a bit, just to hear what's going on around the league and staying up to date with everything," said Alfredsson, via LeBrun. "Those discussions are interesting."
With the Sens riding a three-game win streak, including a 7-4 shellacking of the Dallas Stars, one of the best teams in the league, on Tuesday night, it would seem like a trade is probably far from a glaring necessity for Murray. In fact, there were even reports about two weeks ago that Murray had "backburner"-ed trade talk as he and head coach Dave Cameron focused on upgrading from within.
But there was also an unexpected rumor tying the franchise to the Colorado Avalanche and Matt Duchene. While that in itself isn't surprising - every team in the league probably called Avs GM Joe Sakic once word leaked that Duchene could potentially be had - it does make it sound like Murray may not be as ready to pull his foot off the gas and let the team develop on its own for the foreseeable future as had been suggested.
Still, with Cameron's group now 11-5-5 and in second in the Atlantic, there's likely little incentive for Murray to push for any deal. Working the phones is just what he does - in the good times and the bad.
It's a lesson Alfredsson learns anew each and every day.
"Bryan is an inspiration, there's no question, I'm very fortunate to be able to come in and work for him," Alfredsson told LeBrun.
Still, the 43-year-old potential Hall of Famer isn't yet ready to say whether an NHL front office role is his future. For now, he's just happy to watch Murray work the phones and add what input he can.
